Whitall Tatum Company

Whitall Tatum & Company (1857-1901)

Whitall Tatum Company (1901-1938)

Armstrong Cork Corporation (1938-1969)

Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation (1969-1983) (last production of insulators was in 1978)

Millville, New Jersey

The first glass factory in Millville was built in 1806 on the banks of the Maurice River by James Lee along with several other men. Thereafter the factory went through a puzzling succession of ownerships, including Gideon Scull (by 1814); Nathaniel Solomon; and Burgin, Wood & Bodine.

In 1838, at which time the glassworks was then known as the “Phoenix Glass Works”, Captain John M. Whitall entered the business in partnership with G.M.Haverstick and William Scattergood. Shortly afterward, the firm name became Scattergood & Whitall after the retirement of Haverstick. Franklin Whitall, John’s brother, then joined the firm in 1845. In 1848 the name of the firm became “Whitall, Brother & Company” after Edward Tatum became involved. In 1857 the name was again changed to “Whitall Tatum & Company”, and finally in 1901, to “Whitall Tatum Company” which was the name used until 1938 when the works were bought by Armstrong.

There were two locations used by Whitall Tatum, first the original site (upper works) located in Millville proper, and later the “lower works” in South Millville (formerly known as Schetterville). Eventually the South Millville site would become the center of activity for the glassworks.

Whitall Tatum produced very large quantities of bottles and fruit jars throughout much of the mid- and late 19th century. Pharmacy, druggist, barber, perfume, chemical and other types of bottles in various colors and styles were produced, and some of them are now avidly sought by antique bottle collectors.

W-T is especially well-known for the production of tremendous quantities of prescription bottles, blown for hundreds of local druggists/pharmacies across the country, embossed with their names and addresses using interchangeable slug plates inserted into the mold. Most of those types of druggist bottles marked “W.T. & Co.” on the base generally date from approximately 1875 to around 1901, and are most frequently found in a good-quality clear (colorless) glass. Less commonly-seen are examples found in a beautiful rich teal green glass, as well as cobalt blue.

After the firm name was changed to “Whitall Tatum Company” in 1901, the marking on bottle molds was changed slightly to “W.T.CO.” Many of their pharmacy bottles have a letter or letters embossed (along with the “W.T.CO”) on the base which were typically mold identification marks (not date codes).

Note: some of these earlier clear glass bottles may turn a pale amethyst color if subjected to long exposure to sunlight. However practically all “W T & CO” or “W T CO” marked prescription bottles found in a very dark purple color have been irradiated (color-altered) and were clear to begin with. See this page on Artificially Purpled Glass. (Confusingly, many Whitall Tatum telegraph insulators, especially the “WHITALL TATUM CO No. 1” style made during the 1920s, are found in naturally-occurring light to medium purple shades.)

In the 1900s and on into the 1920s and 1930s Whitall Tatum continued to produce large quantities of bottles of many types, sizes, and colors. W-T manufactured bottles that were sold and used by a large number and variety of product manufacturers, especially those making and packaging “brand name” medicines, remedies, cleaning products, chemicals, cosmetics, lotions, etc. Many of these bottles, along with their electrical insulators, are found with a “W and T inside an inverted triangle” trademark (as shown in photo here, embossed on the side of a CD 154 “Whitall Tatum Co. No 1” insulator). The “W and T” triangle, if present on bottles, is usually embossed on the very base.

Whitall Tatum didn’t enter the insulator manufacturing market until 1922, very soon after Brookfield Glass Company had closed it’s doors the previous year. However, W-T made up for lost time by producing millions of insulators during the ensuing years. No doubt they supplied insulators to many firms (especially in the Eastern states, but over the entire country as well) that had previously purchased from Brookfield.

Armstrong Cork Corporation purchased Whitall-Tatum in 1938 (with insulator production continuing at a remarkable rate, and the existing molds eventually being re-engraved with the ARMSTRONG name), and finally Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporationtook over ownership of the plant in April of 1969. Many of the insulators continued to carry the “Armstrong” embossing, until about 1973, by which time all carried the “KERR” embossing.

With the rapidly decreasing demand for glass insulators, production at the Kerr plant continued to diminish as the 1970s wore on. From information supplied to me by collector/researcher Richard Wentzel, the last glass insulators made at the Millville plant were produced either in late 1975 or early 1976. Soon afterward, the insulator molds and equipment were moved to the Kerr Glass plant located in Dunkirk, Indiana. (The very last “KERR” embossed insulators made at Dunkirk are evidently the ones marked with 1978 date codes, and no Kerr insulators are known with a more recent year date code on them). Those insulators made in 1978 are probably the most recently made (authentic) small to medium-sized PINTYPE glass insulators produced within the United States.

Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corporation sold the Millville manufacturing facility in 1983, along with 3 other plants, to the American National Can Company. Ball-Foster took control of the factory in 1995, and in 1999, after 193 years of nearly continuous glass production, the factory was shut down permanently.

An update (posted 2006): I’ve received word that the former Lower Works site is reportedly a self-storage facility, and the buildings that once housed WT’s glass furnaces have been demolished. A sad ending indeed for one of America’s greatest glass manufacturing enterprises. If anyone has more recent information on this property, please contact me! Thank you!

Note: for a webpage on this site with an extensive list of glass insulator manufacturers, please click here.

(Photograph near top of page: Antique druggist bottle marked “W T & CO” on the bottom in teal green glass, from the 1880s, and two CD 154 style Whitall Tatum No. 1 telephone/telegraph line insulators, one in light peach, the other in medium purple . Both insulators date from the 1920s).
[Sources of info: Richard Wentzel (from his article in McDougald, 1990, and personal communications); also, Adeline Pepper- The Glass Gaffers of New Jersey( 1971); other sources].

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24 Responses to Whitall Tatum Company

Hello, hoping you can help me identify a whitall tatum insulator i have. Front skirt is WHITALL TATUM CO.. followed by WT triangle. Back skirt is No.1 MADE IN U.S.A. Above the “E” in the word Made is a 0. Its a light aqua insulator as well. From my minimal research it appears to be an early embossing style that very few were made. Thanks for any info

Bill,
It is a very common insulator, made in the 1924-1938 period. There can be minor differences on individual examples, as far as the exact mold numbers seen (yours has an ‘0’) but the general model type (No. 1) was made in large quantities in light aqua glass. The “Whitall Tatum Co Number 1” style is classed as “CD 154” in the “Consolidated Design” classification system used by insulator collectors. This is the same shape as the HEMINGRAY-42. Hope this helps,
David

I have 5 white milk glass pharmacy jars with lids about 6 inches tall with lids on. They are all labeled in black ink with the contents. The names are in Latin I believe. I can’t find any information about them. The bottom of the jars are marked Whitall Tatum Co. Phila & NY
Any info would be appreciated. Are these jars rare?

I have 2 Armstrong insulators, same design ( I believe CD128), but the company label on the front differ. One is a large A in a circle, followed by lower case, upright rmstrong, while the other has Armstrong’s in a leaning, almost cursive font (note the ‘s), Can you tell me anything about why they differ? Thanks!

Hi Becky,
Several times during the production of Armstrong insulators, new sets of molds were introduced.
The molds with the word ‘Armstrong’s’ in cursive date from about 1948 to 1960.
The molds with the “A in a circle” rmstrong, as you describe, were made and used from approximately 1957 to 1969. So there was a little “overlap” in the use of the molds. I don’t know for sure why the embossing was changed slightly but I would assume it was because the Armstrong trademark of the “A in a circle” was being made more prominent as part of the later insulators. (Such as seen in this current webpage……same company, but they no longer make glass……….they concentrate on flooring and related products).http://www.armstrong.com/
There are year date codes on your insulators………can you please tell me ALL of the numbers (and dots if present) marked on them?

This info on dating the different lettering styles comes from “A History and Guide to North American Glass Pintype Insulators” (1990, compiled/edited by John & Carol McDougald, that particular article on Armstrong written by Richard Wentzel) on pages 138-139.

I found an insulator with Whitall Tatum No. 2 on the font and with Made In USA 18-46 on the back with an A in a circle with 1 dot on the left and two on the right as well as the number 44 under the A…can you give me any information on this please. Thank you.

Robin, your “Number 2 style” insulator was manufactured by Armstrong Cork Company (who had bought the Whitall Tatum Company in 1938) in 1946. The “18” is a mold number, the “46” is a year date code, the “44” is a date code that the insulator MOLD itself was manufactured. I’m not sure about the meaning of the dots, although they might have been codes for the quarter of the year the insulator was produced………not sure about that. Your insulator is a type generally called a “toll insulator” meaning they were for toll lines (Long distance telephone lines).
David

Hi, I just purchased at a 90 mile yard sale a Whitall Tatum CO No 1 light purple ( lavender) insulator for $15 ! It has a small chip on the rim but, I like the color & it’s for myself so. 😊
Just wondering what’s a good price for this one about ?

Joyce, my site is not intended as an appraisal site. However, you paid a price which I think is in the typical range for that style of insulator. Check ebay, using the advanced search page, typing in relevant keywords, and search for COMPLETED AUCTIONS over a period of weeks to see what various insulators are actually selling for. This is the best way to get a ‘feel” for the average current market value of insulators.
Any damage will decrease the value of an insulator. Your Whitall Tatum insulator is classed as a “CD 154” style. The “CD numbers” (consolidated design numbers) are part of a system of identification in wide use among insulator collectors, and those numbers are heavily used on ebay auctions and other internet sites.
Best regards,
David

I found a brown bottle with a mark that looks like the ‘WT’ in a triangle on the bottom and what appears to be the number ‘6’. It is 3 inches tall and 1.25 inches in diameter. I am curious to know how old it is, its use and its manufacturer. Thanks.

Hi Joe,
WT in a triangle: Whitall Tatum Company. Please check my Glass Bottle Marks pages under the “W” listings, or see my individual page on Whitall Tatum. Anyone can try a keyword search, using the search box located near the upper right hand side of any page on this site to access articles containing more info on certain marks and companies.
~David

I have a bottle with a capital A on the bottom and a circle around the A….does this alone mean it is from Armstrong cork company (glass division) between 1938-1969? It also has the number 26 on the right hand side of the A and a 66 to the left hand side of the A…what do the numbers mean? The bottle is like an Amber or brown color…no bigger than 6 inches long…. It also says 1/10 pint on it

I have a clearish bottle I purchased with a light purple color. The seller said it may have mercury in the glass and that is the reason for the color and it is called sunkissed purple? However I’ve researched this and have seen this may be Magnesium used in the glass. The markings (all on the bottom) say:
W.T.
U.D. CO.
40
There is also a vertical “2” next to CO.

there is no triangle. I cannot find any information on what the UD means? And what year and approximate value it may have. Looking at it in the light, it shows as very purple. Can you please help me out in identifying the markings – especially the UD and can you give me an idea of the year and value? Thank you in advance and I appreciate your help.

Hello Mary Jane,
The purple color you see is not caused by either mercury OR magnesium. (Sorry, but the internet is overloaded with lots of misinformation :-). but it’s caused by the element MANGANESE. Manganese was added to the “batch” (molten glass mixture) to counteract (“mask”) the aqua – light bluish or greenish color- which would otherwise by present, that color being caused by iron which is an impurity that occurs to some extent in most sand. Continued exposure of the glass to sunlight may cause the color to deepen somewhat, but it depends on how much manganese is present in the glass. Higher amounts of manganese will cause the glass to turn shades of purple. This is called SCA (Sun-colored Amethyst).
(Not to confuse this with the increasingly pervasive practice of “nuking” or “irradiating” old glass bottles that contain manganese, thus “activating” the manganese and causing them to turn an artificial, very dark, odd “grape kool-aid” purple color. This practice is frowned upon by many bottle & antique tableware collectors and glass historians. Unfortunately, alot of unscrupulous flea market dealers and ebay sellers are doing this for a “quick buck”….. selling nuked bottles as decorative “window bottles” (at highly inflated prices) because ‘pretty purple’ sells to the uninitiated. More information on Artificially Purpled Glass / Irradiated Glass / Altered Glass glass is posted here ). End of rant.

“U.D.CO” stands of United Drug Company. The bottle was presumably made by Whitall Tatum (for United Drug Co.) probably sometime in the 1900s, 1910s or 1920s. No specific “blue book” value can be assigned to this bottle, but typical prescription / pharmaceutical bottles (if there are NO MARKINGS ON THE FACE OR SIDES, BUT ONLY ON THE BASE!) of this general type and age are quite common. Best regards,
David

Thanks for the great info on these neat insulators! I am having a hard time identifying one that I have: Whitall Tatum Co. No 1 with a 37 below Tatum, Made In USA on the other side with WT in the triangle. I see that it was made between 1922 &1938, but how much is it worth? I am guessing it’s a 154 CD. Thanks for your help!
Esther

Hi Esther,
In general, I try to avoid discussing values on this website, but I can say that the Whitall Tatum Co. No. 1 style insulator was made in very large numbers, and so the most common colors (clear, bluish aqua, light greenish aqua, light straw) are typically valued at around $1.00 to 2.00 in VNM condition. (Peach, pink, purple shadesare less common and will be higher in value). Although insulators such as these are often priced much, much higher in venues such as antique shops or flea markets. “VNM” (very near mint) is a term used commonly in insulator collecting, and describes a very respectable example with only slight damage (perhaps with a few very small ticks here or there). The CD 154 was the earlier type of WHITALL TATUM CO. NO 1 insulator, the same shape as the very common “Hemingray-42”. In 1938 a “new improved” style was introduced, the CD 155, also marked Whitall Tatum NO. 1 (most examples have the “CO” removed, although not all). The main difference: The CD 154 shape has a more pronounced curvature immediately underneath the lower wire ridge on the “skirt” (underneath the wire groove). On the CD 155, the lower ridge is more “squared off” (with more of a clean vertical drop) and this is easily apparent comparing a CD 154 and CD 155 side-by-side. The CD 155 feels noticeably heavier. A search of Google Images with “CD 154” and “CD 155” will show this difference. On your insulator, the “37” is a mold number. Btw, there are insulator price guides available, both online and in hardcopy. An online search with keywords “Insulator Price Guide” will bring up more information.
Hope this helps,
David

Hi Tammy,
As listed on my site, the “W T CO” marking on Whitall Tatum Company bottles dates after 1901. However, I am not sure exactly when it was discontinued. Most W-T bottles after around 1924 are marked with “W over T inside a triangle”, and that mark was used until 1938. Therefore I am guessing (with no proof) that the “W T CO” mark was phased out probably around 1924. Circa 1901 to 1924. I might also mention that the pharmacy bottles with the “fancy pharmacy style 3” seem to have come into popularity in the 1910s. In any case, I cannot give you a specific year on the age of your bottle. Thanks for writing!
David

Comments/Reader's posts (All comments must await moderation and will not be posted immediately). Because of mail volume received, and time and energy restraints, many questions cannot be answered individually, especially if the subject is already addressed elsewhere on this site. This site is NOT intended as an appraisal service, but as a resource for background info on glass companies and their marks, so I usually delete "What is this bottle worth?" types of queries. Thank you very much for your patience & understanding! Cancel reply

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